Dutch Clark

Forget about Old School Love, because this one’s more like Ancient School.

Chances are you’ve never heard of Dutch Clark. Outside of having one heck of a classic old school name, this man was one bad mama jamma.

Clark was the first quarterback of the Detroit Lions. That’s right, long before the greats like Scott Mitchell, Eric Hipple, Milt Plum or Bobby Layne, there was Clark.

He spent his first two seasons with the Portsmouth Spartans, which was the team’s name before they became the Lions in 1934. He was a native of Fowler, Colorado and played his college ball at Colorado College, a small college no one had heard of until Clark showed up.

In 1928, Clark was a dual-threat quarterback, and it’s worth noting this was decades before the style was in vogue. He ran the ball 135 times for 1,349 yards and completed 43 passes, which at the time was a ton. In eight games, he scored 14 times, kicked 16 extra points and a field goal. And to top it off, one of the touchdowns came on an interception return, meaning he was an ironman player.

His first two seasons in the NFL resulted in him being an All-Pro quarterback. In 1933, the Spartans couldn’t afford the league’s best QB. Clark was making $140 per game and the floundering franchise couldn’t pony up the dough. In 1934, he returned to the NFL when Portsmouth moved to Detroit. He played five seasons in Detroit before retiring. From 1934-37, he was an All-Pro, leading the league in scoring in 1935 and 1936.

In 1935, he led the Lions to their first NFL championship with a 26-7 win over the New York Giants.

Clark was the definition of a do it all player. He ended his career with 1,507 passing yards, 2,772 rushing yards and 28 catches for 341 yards, while scoring a total of 53 touchdowns. He also made 73 extra points and made 15 field goals. In 1932, he was sixth in the NFL in pass completions, fourth in rushing yards and seventh in receptions.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962, which was the Hall’s first class, with such luminaries as George Halas, Sammy Baugh, Red Grange and Jim Thorpe.

Suffice to say we’re giving him some OLD SCHOOL LOVE for being one of the greatest player in the history of the game, who even the most hardcore fans might not know of.